National Center for Photovoltaics

The National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) works to advance the state of the art across the full spectrum of photovoltaic (PV)
research and development at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Our cutting-edge research focuses on boosting solar cell conversion efficiencies;
lowering the cost of solar cells, modules, and systems; and improving the reliability
of PV components and systems. The scientific advances and industry support of NCPV
scientists and engineers serve as a foundation for the U.S. PV community. In particular,
the NCPV's efforts contribute to the above goals through high-impact successes in
fundamental research, advanced materials and devices, and technology development and
through valuable collaborations and support of universities, the PV industry, and
PV users.

Our scientists are pursuing critical activities that are also helping to accomplish
the goal of the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative—to make large-scale solar energy systems cost-competitive with other energy sources
at low grid penetrations by 2020.

We conduct our research in collaboration with universities and the solar industry—including
the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies (QESST) Center and the Bay Area PV Consortium (BAPVC)—through research partnerships and through direct support of PV R&D performed within
the Materials and Chemical Science and Technology Directorate.

Our R&D described in the list below emphasizes innovation in various PV technologies.
But our technical expertise transfers to and is being applied to other technology
areas and across a range of applications, including: fuel cells, hydrogen storage,
photoelectrochemistry, windows, batteries, thermoelectrics, and opto-electronics/lighting.